Private message

In computing, a private message, personal

message, or direct message (abbreviated
as PM or DM) refers to a private
communication sent or received by a user
of a private communication channel on
any given platform. Unlike public posts,
PMs are only viewable by the participants.
Though long a function present on IRCs
and Internet forums, private channels for
PMs have recently grown in popularity due
to the increasing demand for privacy and
private collaboration on social media.

Messages sent between users of Facebook

There are two main types of private

messages. One type includes those found
on IRCs[1] and Internet forums,[2] as well as
on social media apps like Twitter,
Facebook, and Instagram, where the focus
is public posting, PMs allow users to
communicate privately without leaving the
platform. The second type are those
relayed through instant messaging
platforms such as WhatsApp, Kik, and
Snapchat, where users create accounts
primarily to exchange PMs.[3] A third type,
peer-to-peer messaging, occurs when
users create and own the infrastructure
used to transmit and store the messages;
while features vary depending on
application, they give the user full control
over the data they transmit. An example of
software that enables this kind of
messaging is Classified-ads.[4]
Besides serving as a tool to connect
privately with friends and family, PMs have
gained momentum in the workplace.
Working professionals use PMs to reach
coworkers in other spaces and increase
efficiency during meetings. Although
useful, using PMs in the workplace may
blur the boundary between work and
private lives.[5][6][3][7]

History
The development of computers sparked
the information revolution, which changed
the way people communicate. Peter
Drucker published an article centering on
the theme that the computer is to the
Information Revolution what the railroad
was to the Industrial Revolution; railroads
unified travel between the east and west
coast of the United States, whereas
computers unified communication across
the entire globe. This revolutionized many
different forms of communication, but
particularly the personal message.

The first email system able to send mail

between people using different host
computers was launched via the ARPANET
in 1971, and it revolutionized personal
messaging by enabling users to send
electronic messages to distant
recipients.[8] The popularity of email has
since skyrocketed, and it continues to be a
widely-used means of personal
messaging.

The advent of the Internet paved the way

for communication through platforms and
website portals like Yahoo!, and AOL.
Instant messaging systems became
popular in the late 1990s, including AOL
Instant Messenger, ICQ, MSN Messenger
and Yahoo! Messenger. As Internet
communication links improved and
personal computers became more
capable, this functionality was merged into
systems that also included voice and
video communication, such as Skype
(launched in 2003).

In 2008, Facebook announced Facebook

Chat, which evolved into Facebook
Messenger in 2011 and allows users to
message each other via the Facebook site.
Twitter followed suit and introduced direct
messages to their site in 2013. Today,
private messaging is a staple of
established social media platforms such
as Facebook and Twitter, as well as more
recently-developed applications such as
Viber and Hike.
Modern forms of private messaging may
include multimedia messages, such as
pictures or videos. The messaging app
Snapchat allows users to exchange photo
and video messages, which can be viewed
for 1–10 seconds before they are deleted
from Snapchat's servers.[9][10][11][12]

Some common forms of private

messaging include Facebook messaging
(sometimes referred to as "inboxing"),
Twitter direct messaging, and Instagram
direct messaging. These forms of private
messaging provide a private space on a
usually public site. For instance, most
activity on Twitter is public, but Twitter
DMs provide a private space for
communication between two users. This
differs from mediums like email, texting,
and Snapchat, where most or all activity is
always private.[13]

Private messaging has become

increasingly popular in the workplace with
the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic,
which led to many businesses allowing
employees to work from home. Private
messaging enables distant employees to
communicate in real-time as they would in
a shared workspace.
Etiquette of private messages
There are unsaid, known rules that govern
many interactions, but with technology
and social media being relatively recent
developments, the etiquette can
sometimes be difficult to know, learn, or
follow. One of the main issues of
interactions over technology is that
without body language, facial expressions,
or tone of voice, conversations can be
misunderstood.

Personal messaging etiquette can

compensate for the lack of face-to-face
conversation by exaggerating,
communicating clearly, and not
necessarily saying the same things that
one may say in a face-to-face interaction
that could be construed without body
language, facial expressions, or tone of
voice.

Privacy concerns

On Facebook

In January 2014, Matthew Campbell and

Michael Hurley filed a class-action lawsuit
against Facebook for breaching the
Electronic Communications Privacy Act.[14]
They alleged that the information in their
supposedly private messages was being
read and used to generate profit,
specifically "for purposes including but not
limited to data mining and user profiling".

In 2012, some Facebook users

misinterpreted a redesign of the Facebook
wall as publicly sharing private messages
from 2008–2009. These were found to be
public wall posts from those years, made
at a time when it was not possible to like
or comment on a wall post, making the
notes look like private messages.[15]
Phishing scams

In a popular phishing scheme, scammers

will send emails with the subject-line
"private message" which ask the victim to
click a link to open the message. The link
instead leads to a fake log-in page which
asks the victim to enter their email
username and password in order to view
the "private message". Instead, the
information goes straight to the "phishers",
allowing them to hijack the email
account.[16]

References
1. Tatters, Wes (1995). Navigating the Internet
 with America Online (https://books.google.
com/books?id=g9hRMF1dY0cC) .
Sams.net. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-672-30763-8.

2. Khorasani, Manouchehr Moshtagh (2008).

The Development of Controversies: From
the Early Modern Period to Online
Discussion Forums (https://books.google.c
om/books?id=PtBci2GslUkC) . Peter Lang.
p. 11. ISBN 978-3-03911-711-6.
3. "Advantages and disadvantages of an
instant messenger". (n.d.). Retrieved from
"Advantages and Disadvantages of an
Instant Messenger" (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20130728110557/http://www.bigan
tsoft.com/tutorial/Advantages-and-Disadva
ntages-of-an-Instant-Messenger.html) .
Archived from the original (http://www.biga
ntsoft.com/tutorial/Advantages-and-Disadv
antages-of-an-Instant-Messenger.html) on
2013-07-28. Retrieved 2014-03-19.

4. Catalin Chelariu. 2016, May 31. Classified

ads. Retrieved from "Softpedia - Classified
Ads (https://www.softpedia.com/get/Intern
et/Other-Internet-Related/Classified-ads.sht
ml) "
5. Lee, T. 2010, September 30. "Power of the
personality message". Retrieved from "NY
Times - Reaching and Persuading the
Masses (https://www.nytimes.com/roomfo
rdebate/2010/09/29/can-twitter-lead-peopl
e-to-the-streets/reaching-and-persuading-th
e-masses) "

6. "My messages" [Online forum comment].

Retrieved from "WikiSimplemachines.org -
Personal Messages (https://wiki.simplema
chines.org/smf/Personal_messages) "

7. Wagner, K. (2013, December 27). "Why

social networks are crazy private
messaging". Retrieved from Mashable (http
s://mashable.com/2013/12/27/social-netw
orks-private-messaging/)
8. Lievrouw, Leah A.; Livingstone, Sonia M.
(2006-01-17). Handbook of New Media:
Student Edition (https://books.google.com/
books?id=NZ3ktyGA0rwC&q=ARPANET&pg
=PA253) . SAGE. p. 253. ISBN 978-1-4129-
1873-2.
 9. Crocker, D. (2012, March 20). "Nowadays
the private chats sent through the social
medias are encrypted end-to-end so that it
appears in a ciphertext form which cannot
be easily understood by an unauthorised
person". "A history of e-mail: Collaboration,
innovation and the birth of a system" (http
s://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-i
nnovations/a-history-of-e-mail-collaboration
-innovation-and-the-birth-of-a-system/2012/
03/19/gIQAOeFEPS_story.html) . The
Washington Post.

10. Drucker, P. F. (1999, October). Beyond the

Information Revolution - 99.10. Retrieved
from Theatlantic.com (https://www.theatla
ntic.com/magazine/archive/1999/10/beyo
nd-the-information-revolution/304658/)
11. The History of Communication. (n.d.).
Retrieved from Thoughtco.com (https://ww
w.thoughtco.com/early-history-of-communi
cation-4067897)

12. Honan, M. (2013, December 10). Twitter

Makes Its Play for Private Messaging |
Gadget Lab | Wired.com (https://www.wire
d.com/2013/12/twitter-private-photo-sharin
g/) .

13. Instagram. (n.d.). Blog. Retrieved March 12,

2014, from Instagram (https://web.archive.
org/web/20180517010352/https://instagra
m.tumblr.com/post/69789416311/instagra
m-direct)
14. Grove, Jennifer (2014). Facebook Sued for
Allegedly Intercepting Private Messages.
Mobile World Congress. Retrieved from
Cnet.com (https://www.cnet.com/news/fac
ebook-sued-for-allegedly-intercepting-privat
e-messages/)

15. Hamburger, Ellis (2012). Facebook privacy

scare illuminates the evolution of online
conversations. Retrieved from The Verge (h
ttps://www.theverge.com/2012/9/24/3384
058/facebook-public-messages-privacy-sca
re)

16. Christensen, Brett (2012). ‘Private Message’

Phishing and Survey Scam Emails.
Retrieved from Hoax Slayer (https://www.h
oax-slayer.net/private-message-phishing-an
d-survey-scam-emails/) .
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Private_message&oldid=1146007628"

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